


The Mystery Twins Return

by Chasing_Crows



Series: Winter Break in Gravity Falls [1]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 20:00:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28676352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chasing_Crows/pseuds/Chasing_Crows
Summary: Stan misses the twins and invites Dipper and Mabel to spend their winter break at the mystery shack.  (AU where Stan and Ford stay at the shack instead of going sailing)
Relationships: Stan Pines & The Pines Family
Series: Winter Break in Gravity Falls [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2101728
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	The Mystery Twins Return

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place in an AU where Stan and Ford stay at the shack instead of going on their sailing adventure. Post Weirdmageddon, it’s the winter after the events of Gravity Falls.

After procrastinating to do so until mid-November, Stan was finally taking down the Halloween decorations outside the mystery shack. His back was acting up as he packed a life-size skeleton into its box- why didn't he just make Soos do all this instead? Maybe Stan would have him come in early tomorrow to pack up the rest.

He paused to stretch and hopefully give his back a minute of relief. The sun was already down, and he didn’t realize how late it had gotten until he glanced at his watch. It was almost seven o’clock, and he figured he should grab dinner soon. He was getting tired, and maybe just eating some ice cream before hitting the hay early would be best.

Overhead the sky was clear, and countless stars shone as brilliantly as ever. Although his brother could doubtless name each star, planet, and constellation, the only thing Stan recognized was the big dipper. As soon as his mind connected the dots above him, he couldn’t help but think of his great nephew and niece. “Get a grip, old man,” he thought to himself, “lookin’ at the stars and missing those kids is awfully cheesy, don’t you think?”

He was already entertaining the thought of heading in for the night, but now with the kids on his mind he just wanted to distract himself with whatever show was on television before he got himself too down with missing them.

Once inside, he picked up the phone and dialed Soos. “Mr. Pines?” the voice on the other end asked.

“Hey Soos, could I get you to come in an hour or two early tomorrow to put the rest of the Halloween decorations away? I’m gettin’ too old for this.” He only halfway listened to the reply as talk of Halloween caused his mind to drift to the Summerween only months ago when the kids were still at the shack.

\- - -

The next day Stan entered the kitchen to find Ford pouring what was probably his fourth cup of coffee for the morning. He opened the cupboard and began rummaging through his collection of snacks.

“Hey Sixer, uh, it’ll be winter break for the kids in about a month, and I was thinking about maybe seeing if they wanted to come visit their ol’ grunkles while they’re out of school.”

“Are you sure they won’t want to spend the holidays with their friends and family at home? They were just here for the entire summer.”

That was the problem, though. Had the kids only been in Oregon for a short stay, Stan was sure he wouldn’t have minded seeing them go, but after having them around for three months, he had gotten used to their presence. The shack seemed so quiet now, even with the racket Ford could make with his various research escapades. Dipper and Mabel had been keeping up with writing letters to their great uncles, but while Ford had no trouble with writing them page after page filling them in on his latest research, Stan’s letters were always short and to the point. He never knew what to write, and it just wasn’t the same as having those two knuckleheads around in person where he could give them noogies or pull pranks on them.

Stan scratched the back of his head with one hand and dug deeper into the cupboard with the other. “Yeah, well, I was just thinking that… if they aren’t here they’ll miss the New Year’s party I’m having here at the shack.”

“Since when do you throw New Year’s parties?”

“Well… I had a couple parties with the kids over the summer, and besides one minor zombie invasion, they were able to bring in some good cash.” Stan finally selected a box of Chipackerz and opened it. “You know, if the kids are here, their friends will want to come and we’ll have a better guarantee of actually making a profit. It’d be great for business since winters tend to be slow.”

“Hmmm… I guess that isn’t a terrible idea.” Ford took a sip of his coffee. “Are you sure Dipper and Mabel’s parents will agree to this, though?”

“Hey, if they were willing to let me have them for an entire summer, what's a couple of weeks?”

Ford shrugged, and his face seemed agreeable enough. “Well, I’ll call them later today and will let you know what they say,” said Stan. He was about to shove a handful of Chipackerz into his mouth, but he paused long enough to add, “and just so you know, if the kids do come I’m expecting them to pull their weight with helping out around the shack, so you can’t take them on all sorts of nerd missions that’ll make them too busy to do any work, okay?”

His brother’s brow furrowed as he said, “how about you call them first before you get too carried away.”

\- - -

Stan couldn’t help but smile as he hung up the phone. Not only were the kids coming for the holidays, but Dipper and Mabel’s parents had even agreed to Stan’s idea to pull the kids out of school a few days early so they could have a little more time in Gravity Falls.

The mystery shack didn’t have any customers at the moment, so it made sense to find Soos and tell him the good news first. He peeked outside to see all the Halloween decorations gone and next checked the gift shop. His only full time employee was putzing around without anything in particular to do, and he jumped a little when he saw his boss approaching.

“Sorry, I already put all the spooky stuff away and didn’t know-”

“I’m not here to yell at you for once. Just thought you’d like to know that the kids will be around for their winter break. That’s all.”

Before Stan could turn to track down Ford, Soos pulled Stan into a tight hug.

“Oh, Mr. Pines! Thank you thank you thank you!” Stan wasn’t sure if Soos understood that the kids were coming up for more than just his sake, but he was being squeezed so hard that he only wanted to be set free before he said much else.

“Alright, let me go. You’re technically on the clock, so you could at least try to act professional.”

Soos flushed and released the older man while mumbling a weak apology. Stan made a show of straightening his clothes and smoothing any wrinkles, but he couldn’t deny he was glad he wasn’t the only one excited to have the twins back.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the beginning of a series of one-shots that all take place within the same winter break. They can be read in any order and don't have a set timeline that they follow.


End file.
